Market Segmentation Drives More Actionable Healthcare Engagement
From 146 Variables to Actionable Segments
Business Problem
A leading healthcare organization wanted to better understand the diverse needs, attitudes, and preferences of its members in order to improve product recommendations and engagement strategies. The organization had previously conducted segmentation work but found the results difficult to apply in practice, leading to skepticism about whether a new segmentation would deliver meaningful business value.
The challenge extended beyond simply identifying groups. The client needed a segmentation that balanced statistical rigor with real-world usability. With more than 140 potential variables spanning plan preferences, technology engagement, AI trust, health and wellness attitudes, and lifestyle perspectives, determining which factors would create meaningful and actionable segments required careful planning and extensive analysis.
Adding further complexity, the client had expectations shaped by a previous segmentation study, including assumptions about the number of groups that should emerge. TRC needed to develop a defensible segmentation framework while clearly communicating and justifying any differences from prior work.
TRC’s Solution
TRC partnered closely with the client to design a segmentation approach that combined advanced analytics with practical business objectives. The team began by mapping potential segmentation variables across multiple dimensions, including health attitudes, technology engagement, plan preferences, and personal outlook. This framework helped ensure that the resulting segments would reflect both behavioral and attitudinal differences.
Using a range of statistical techniques, TRC systematically reduced an initial set of 146 variables to a focused set of drivers suitable for clustering analysis. Throughout the process, the team evaluated numerous model configurations, testing different variable combinations and segment structures to determine which solutions produced the strongest differentiation and business relevance.
The project required significant iteration. Early solutions were statistically sound but overly product-focused and lacked practical applicability. TRC worked through multiple rounds of review with internal stakeholders, refining the approach and incorporating more attitudinal measures to create a richer understanding of consumer motivations. When results still fell short of real-world usability expectations, the team revisited the framework and introduced additional considerations, including differences between individual and family health plans.
Throughout the engagement, TRC maintained a consultative partnership with the client, using extensive testing and validation to justify key decisions, including the final number of segments, and to build confidence in the resulting framework.
Successful Implementation
After 18 iterations and extensive collaboration, TRC delivered a segmentation solution that achieved both analytical rigor and practical applicability. The final framework provided a clear understanding of distinct consumer groups while supporting the client’s goals for product positioning, recommendations, and engagement strategy development.
Just as important, the process itself helped align stakeholders around the rationale behind the segmentation approach. By thoroughly documenting the evaluation process and demonstrating why alternative solutions were rejected, TRC enabled the client to move forward with confidence in both the structure and number of segments selected.
The engagement highlighted an important truth about segmentation: the best solution is not necessarily the most statistically elegant – it is the one that successfully translates data into decisions. By combining methodological expertise with business context, TRC delivered a segmentation framework that could be effectively activated across marketing, communications, and customer engagement initiatives.
